The landmark Redcar Blast Furnace has been demolished to make way for future developments at the Teesworks site.
Northumberland firm Thompsons of Prudhoe used 175kg of explosives to bring down the 365ft high structure, including the casting houses, the dust catcher, charge conveyors, and the blast furnace. It had been a recognisable part of the Teesside skyline since the late 1970s.
The move is part of site clearance works to ready the former steelworks site and follows the demolition of the 213ft Basic Oxygen Steelmaking plant in October. Four giant gas stoves that heated the furnace are to follow next month.
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Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, who had fronted the Teesworks project, said: “Our skyline has changed forever with the demolition of the Redcar Blast Furnace and we can never forget the important role it played in Teesside’s proud industrial history. Now, with almost all of the major iron and steelmaking structures down, a new skyline will emerge on the Teesworks site as construction ramps up on new investments like Net Zero Teesside and SeAH Wind’s offshore wind monopile facility.
“We can never understate how much the steelworks site has defined Teesside’s history and shaped our communities, but I’ve always been clear we need to look to the future to create new jobs on this site that will employ generations of local people, just as the steelworks once did. We will never forget our past – but from it we are building a new future.”
The blast furnace was first mothballed in 2010 but restarted two years later when SSI UK took over. It was shut down for a final time in 2015 when SSI entered liquidation - with the loss of 2,000 jobs.
Redcar's Tory MP Jacob Young said: "I always said today would be a day of mixed emotions. But it is precisely because the blast furnace stood for so long as a symbol of our historic economic strength that it should make way for a new era of progress. And it's that progress that we need to concentrate on now."
Tees Valley Combined Authority said the Teesworks Heritage Taskforce had led efforts to preserve memories of the former steelworks, alongside the Teesside Archives, historian Dr Tosh Warwick, Historic England and former SSI UK PR director John Baker, as well as former steelworkers. A 3D model of the Blast Furnace is being produced by Middlesbrough-based animation specialist Animmersion and will be publicly viewable from next year.
But some people on Teesside have criticised the authorities for failing to find ways of maintaining some of the structures on the site for their heritage value.
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